TOEFL Practice Test ITP PDF [PDF]

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Calvin Coolidge was President of the United states during the triumprant reign of prosperity that made the twenties "golden: and this prosperity had real roots. Although there had been a brief but sharp postwar depression in 1920 and 1921, American industry made a quick recovery. Largely responsible far the industrial boom that followed was the introduction of new products i American life. For example, on the eve of the First World War, only half a million automobiles were being produced annually, bul during lhe twenlies prod i reached nearly five million units per year. Furthermore, the new auto industry created demands on older industries for products such as rubber, copper, glass, sleel, and fabrics. It called fOI the building of paved roads aeross the nation and brought about the tremendous expansion of the oil and gasoline refining industries, along with the construction of lhousands of gasollne stations, which broke out IIke a rash of measles over the countryside. 8asic induslries expanded as well - coal, steel, machine tools, clothing, and, most dramatically of all, the electric power industry. For the first lime, average citizens were buying cars, radios (another new booming industry), refrigerators, and a hoS! of other new consumer products. The poor seemed to be getling richer, and certainly the rich were getting richer. For the well-lO-do, the businesj civilization of the twenties seemed to promise thal could be expected "this side of paradise;' as F. scott ritzgerald titled one most popular novels. BUl paradise in lhe twenlies had lwO sides. On the far side of paradise during the golden decade lived lhe majority of American farmers.



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6. The word "host"in line 17 is closest in meaning lo (A) enterlainer (B) representative sample (C) business investment (O) large number



l. According to the passage, when did the United states experience a brief depression 7 (A) In the late nineteenth century (B) Befare the First World War (C) Ouring the First World War (O) In the early 1920's



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7. It can be inferred from the passage that the characters in the novel This Side of Poradise are (A) wealthy people (B) industrious farmers (C) peative writers (O) average citizens



2. The word "boom" in line 5 is closest in meaning to (A) noise (B) strike (C) expansion (O) market



8. What can be inferred from the passage about farms in the United Sta tes in the 1920'S7 (A) They experienced very rapid economic growth. (8) They attracted workers from urban industrial centers. (C) They benefited from a reduction in lhe price of gasoil ne. (O) They were less prosperous than other businesses.



3. The phrase "called for" in IIne 10



To



is closest in meaning lO (A) named (B) required (C) described (O) considered



4. According to the passage, the growth in automobile production caused an inerease in lhe demand for (A) rubber (B) mass produced dothing (C) electric power (O) radios



9. Thc paragraph following the passage most IIkely discusses (A) the life of F. Scott Fitzgerald (8) the cost of consumer goods (e) the economic condition of farms (O) popular novels of lhe 1920's



S. According to the passage, all of lhe following were relalively new in lhe 1920's EXCEPT (A) steel (B) radios (C) automobiles (D) refrigeralors



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The piano has always had a special plaee in musie in the United Stat&'. Because one can play on it several notes at once, it can be used in substitution fo r a band. This quality has attracted composers; there has been far more music written for piano, or the keyboards in general, than for any other instrument. because a piano can, in effect, accompany itsell, for a century it has been the basic instrument for the playing of popular musie. This was especially so during the decades around the turn of the century. In the years befare the First World War (1914-19 18), most fa milies in the Un ited Sta tes felt it important to own a piano, no matter how poor they were. People who coul d play the piano were welcom e visitors and werc gene rally cajoled playing the latest popular tunes. But it was nor just in rhe ha me thar the piano nouri shed. It was the basic enterrainment tool in cabarets, clubs, and restaurants, just as ir is today. The thus, was central to the sociallives 01 people in the United states, and in the period between the Civil War (1861-1865) and the First World War, there grew a considerable industry devoted to ir: the popular music business, a huge trade insrructional schools and mail order.lessons, and, of course, rhe selling of i themselves. Inevitablya large corps of virtuoso professional piano players developed. These "professors" or "ivory ticklers" were not necessarily trained in the classical European tradirion. Most, although not all, either were self-taugh t or studied older ticklers who th emselves had little experi ence wlrh rhe classical tradition. Despite the lack of European-style training, many of these players possessed aston lshing techn lques that. ir not well·suitcd lO classica l piano compositions, were exacrly right for producing the showy effects with which these proressors impressed audiences and competing pianists. Fast arpeggios, octave runs, and other great splashes up and down the keyboard were practiced endlessly. These ticklers were the people who developed and popularized ragrime; it no accident thar the most popular music of th e penad was a piano formo And course, when jazz ca me into fashion, they were caught up in this new musie.



14. Which ofthe following can



10. What does the passage mainly



Questions 10·19



be inlerred from the passage about rh e piano industry between 1861 and 1914) (A) Fewer pianos were built. (B) Many people wanted to learn how to play the piano. (C) Other forms of keyboard instruments were invented. (D) Large bands began to replace pianos in clubs .nd restaurants.



discuss) (A) The parts 01 a piano (B) Kinds 01 pianos (C) Composers of piano music (D) popularity 01 the piano



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11 . The word"place"in line 1 is closest in meaning to (A) performance (B) region (C) position (D) arrangement



12. The word "it" in line 2 refers to (A) (B) (C) (D)



piano place music band



15. The word "virtuoso" in line 19 is clases! in meaning to (A) youthlul (B) dedicated (C) skilled (D) noble



13. The word "central" in line 14 is closest in mea ning to (A) accessible (B) important (C) convenient (D) related



16. The word "themselves" in line 22 refers to (A) pianos (B) compositions (C) older tlcklers (D) techniques



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17. According to the passage,



19. The para graph following



why were audiences amazed by the piano-playing ofthe ticklers mentioned In the third parag raph? (A) They played without looki ng at music. (B) Thei r performances were veryexciting. (C) They were you nger than most pianists. (O) They were accompanied by a vari ety of other instruments.



the passage most probably



discusses



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(A) cl assica l piano music (B) piano competitions (e) piano instruction (O) jazz piano music



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18, Which of the following is NOT true of the professional piano players mentioned in the fourth pa ragraph 7 (A) They were trained in



Section 3 continues. Turn the page and read the next passage.



Europe. (B) Thei r pia no performances appea led to audiences. (C) They usually received little formal training. (O) They were more skilled at playing popu lar music tha n classical music.



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Questions 20-29



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Virtually every epoch ofhu,!,an civilization ineludes references to fiigrt ancient winged deities to a score of myths, themes of fiight occur repeatedly. There were undoubtedly sporadic attempts to achieve human fiight, probably i imitation of birds. The first eredible mention of such elforts appeared in a book written in 1250, which referred to an ornithopter, a winged machine strapped to a person's arms. Based on the fiapp ing motion of a bird's wings, an nm,;it hnc'" would require a good deal of muscular energy from the arms of its human operator. Since this was not a practical source of mechan ical power, it could With the age-old problem of suitable power sources impeding early experiments, the first person to leave the surface of the Earth did so in the eighteenth century in a ba lloon. The first balloons were buoyed into and kept in the air with air itself - hot air. The Montgolfier brothers had observed that air rose, and reasoned that if they could capture ir in a lightwelghr bag, the bag would rise along with anything attached to it They experimented with several smalllinen bags Ilned with paper to help reta in the hor air. The first free night in balloon was made in 1783, a 25-minute journey totaling 8 kilometers. Practical heavier-than-air fiight evolved from fixed -wing aireraft in the form gl iders, which are motorless aircraft that are launched from high places. Gliding itself dated from the year 1000, when a Benedictine monk reportedly launched himselffrom a rower and fiew more than 400 meters. However, structu ral and stability problems seemed to frustrate gliding enthusiasts until the early nineteenth century. With the addition of propellers and engines in the early twentieth century, airplanes at last beca me a reality.



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24_ The word "buoyed" in line 11 is closest in meaning to (A) collapsed (B) designed (e) attempted (D) raised



20. What does the passage mainly di seu ss' (A) Early drawings of nying machines (B) The history of fiight (e) 'The various problems with ornithopters (D) References to fiight in aneient myths



25. The word "it"in line 13 refers to (A) balloon (B) warm ai r (e) lightweight bag (D) paper



21. The word "sporadie" in line 3 is closest in meaning to (A) seientifie (B) sueeessfu I i (e) oeeasiona l (D) eourageous



26, What can be inferred about glicÍers that were made before the nineteenth century' (A) They eould not be easily transported. (B) They relied on hot air 10 lift ¡he m off of the ground. (e) They were not well designed. (D) They remained airborne for long periods of time.



22, Aceording to the passage, what was the problem with the ornithopter' (A) It was poorly eonstrueted. (B) It eould only hold one person. (e) It had 10 be launched from a high place. (D) It required more strength than a human eould provide.



27. Whieh of the followi ng statements is supported by the passage' (A) Humans have always had a faseination with fiying. (B) The sueeess of human fiig ht depended on imitating the fiight of birds. (e) The evolution of fiight has been a sfeady, consistent proeess. (D) Flying enthusiasts still prefer gliders to balloons.



23, The word "ir" in line 8 refers to



(A) souree (B) motion (e) ornithopter (D) power



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28. Where in the passage does the author mention an historical account of early attempts at fiight 7 (A) Unes 4-6 (B) Unes 9-11 (e) Unes 17-18 (D) Lines 22-23



29. The passage probably continues with a dliscusslcln (A) the dangers of (B) the development of airplanes (C) similarities between and modern gliders (D) attempts to improve the ornithopter



Section 3 continues. Turn the page and read the next passage.



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The Comstoek Lode in Nevad" was the scene of one of the biggest si l" " mining booms in the history of the opening up of the North American West. It diseovered in 1859, but prod uctivity did not reach its pea k until the 1870's when many la rge sllver deposits were discovered. A large nu mber of mines are scalcter